


Hurricane

by IWillNotGoGentlyIntoThatGoodNight (Menochange)



Series: One shots [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Character Death, Colin is adorable, Damian Wayne Feels, Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Damian Wayne is Robin, Established Relationship, Gen, M/M, Sort Of, Why can't they have nice things?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-20
Packaged: 2019-07-14 20:16:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16047785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menochange/pseuds/IWillNotGoGentlyIntoThatGoodNight
Summary: The one where a bunch of superkids have been kidnapped and Damian Wayne is the only person who can save them. But how far is he willing to go? What is the price of freedom and is he willing to pay it?Inspired by the song Hurricane 30 Seconds To Mars.





	Hurricane

Damian stared at the blood that soaked his hands as he waited for his suspicions to be confirmed.

Nothing was happening. Why was nothing happening?

He had to be right. It was the only thing that made sense.

This was the only way.

He was right. Right?

Chaos erupted around him as the other teen heroes arrived on the scene, voices accusing as they yelled at him, but he paid them no mind.

He was right. He had to be, if he wasn’t then … NO.

He had to be right.

“What did you do” a dark skinned boy – Kid Flash his mind supplied numbly – yelled at him, his hands clenched painfully into Damian’s right arm as he tried to shake the bat out of his stupor. But Damian couldn’t register anything over the loud ringing in his ears, couldn’t tear his eyes away from the person in front of him. The boy he killed. 

The body looked small and out of place in the vastness of the clearing. Red stained the light blue shirt as blood seeped out from the fatal wound in his chest. The boy’s once kind eyes lifeless and empty.

Damian wanted to turn away but he couldn’t. He cursed himself as he felt the tears slip down his face. He hadn’t wanted to give them this. Hadn’t wanted to show his weakness but it was too late.

He reached out his hand inadvertently pulling away from Wallace as he carded his bloody fingers through the red hair in front of him. His breath shuddered as he waited – prayed – for something to happen. _Anything._

He was right. He _had_ to be right… or else he had just…Colin….

No. 

Sacrifice. The Game master said the key to freedom was sacrifice.

Damian had done that. He wasn't wrong. he couldn't be.

Everything would be alright.

Right?

 

* * *

 

**An few hours earlier.**

 

It was completely unfeasible, impossible even and yet he knew it to be true. It had been weeks since they first arrived here and all signs or rather lack thereof pointed to only one conclusion.

There was no escape. They were completely and utterly trapped.

 

Damian made his way through the compound, avoiding eye contract as he headed swiftly through the corridor towards the exit. He needed space, he needed to breathe and clear his head before he did something brash like punch ‘Kid Stupid’ in the face, repeatedly.

The teenager made it out the door without a problem – whether that was because news of the almost altercation had travelled through the halls or if he was sending out more ‘don’t fuck with me right now’ vibes than usual, was anyone’s guess. Either way he was grateful – and practically sprinted into the surrounding forest the moment he was clear of the door. He headed for what he had begun to internally call ‘his quiet place’ – a small clearing that was located near the edge of the huge wall that encapsulated the whole area (It was an unscaleable concrete monstrosity, which had them trapped in here with no escape).

The youngest Wayne threw himself onto the ground uncaring as he tried to meditate, control his breathing as a way to let go of the anger and frustration that was steadily building up inside. The sun shone brightly down, warming him despite the cool breeze that was beginning to settle. He closed his eyes and tried to go over everything he knew once more. There had to be a way out. There had to be. He just needed to think.

What did he know?

  * They were stuck
  * There was no way out
  * He ~~was a shitty leader~~ had no idea what to do now.



Damian sighed, despite everything that had gone wrong since the beginning there was a part of him that had been happy initially, as they had all unanimously agreed almost instantly that he, Robin should be in charge. It was only now – weeks later – in retrospect that he realised that things were truly dire. If he was being honest, this was all like some sort of stupid movie plot – one of the stupid ones Grayson loves – where the main character gets nearly everything they had ever wished for but by the end of it realises that they had already had everything they had ever needed all along – because honestly Damian didn’t want to be in charge anymore, he just wanted to go home.

But this wasn’t a movie, nothing was resolved in an hour by an internal realisation of a meaningful life lesson. Instead they had been here weeks, there was little to no chance of escape and Damian was clueless about what he was supposed to do now. Batman would be disappointed, ashamed to call him Robin. That is, if the vigilante hadn’t already replaced him with someone more fitting for the job – or perhaps he had taken Drake back. It was a poorly kept secret that everyone believe that the older boy was better for the job in every way. Damian let out a broken laugh, if Drake was here they would already have had everything sorted, they wouldn’t be trapped here weeks after arrival. And whilst Damian hated admitting he was less than perfect he could acknowledge that he was probably the worst Robin to be in charge right now. Everything around him was chaos and Damian wasn’t entirely sure about his mental state.

He had a dream this morning which had left him uncertain about everything, not to mention that tensions were high given that they were weeks in with no escape in sight. Nothing was right, everything was a mess.

“Dami?”

No. He was mistaken, everything except Colin was a mess.

“Colin” Damian greeted sighing in relief as the boy sat next to him, arms wrapping around the bat in a casual hug.

“Everything okay? I heard about your fight with Wally.”

“I should have punched him” Damian spat vindictively knowing even as he said it that he was wrong.

“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you didn’t” Colin smiled resting his head on Damian’s shoulder and the last of his anger fled at the contact.

“Me too” the bat sighed “It’s not his fault, he was right. I haven’t made any progress at all. We’ve been stuck here forever”

“It’s not your fault either Dami! It’s nobody’s fault except for the person who put us here”

“It’s my fault you’re here. If I hadn’t been so selfish.”

“It’s nobody’s fault except for the person who put us here! You’re not to blame, you didn’t know Dami.” Colin repeated pulling back to stare at him but Damian stared straight ahead refusing to meet the other boy’s eyes.

“I should have known better, why aren’t you more angry. I doomed you to be stuck here just like the rest of us! I told them about you! You should blame me, hate me. You shouldn’t be …”

“Do you hate me being here? Do I make being here harder for you?” Colin interrupted still trying to catch his eye.

 “No. but that makes it worse right? The fact that I’m happy you’re here. The fact that you make this whole thing somewhat bearable. If I was a good person I should wish you weren’t here but don’t because I am selfish. The truth is that I don’t know how I would survive this without you.” Damian confessed turning his face to finally look at the other boy.

“Then I’m glad they brought me here. I mean, I’m not glad that we’re stuck but I mean I’m happy that we’re together” The red head smiled brightly at him that Damian couldn’t help but smile back.

“Okay. I think you are an idiot but okay. Anyway it’s not the fact that we’re stuck here that had me on edge today. I… I had another dream last night.”

“Another one?”

“Yeah. The asshole talked to me again. He had the audacity to look like my father because he believed that it would put me at ease.” Damian scoffed angrily.

“Dami… You sound like you believe the dreams are real. Are they real? Is this ‘Game master’ a real person?”

“I… I don’t know. He said something to me though. It was nonsense but, I don’t know it’s been messing with my head all day.”

“What did he say?”

 “He said that perception warps reality and that freedom comes at a great sacrifice. Should one strive to attain what they want, they need to be willing to do what needs to be done. It’s stupid but i swear it sounded more ominous when I was asleep” Damian rolled his eyes trying to cover up how much that dream affected him.

“What does that even mean? And are we sure it’s real?”

“I have no idea on either account. The other times I dreamt of him had a different tone. He was more mocking before, this time was different. He said something about wanting me to win as well. It was just all together weird.”

“Win? Win what?”

“I don’t know” Damian groaned frustrated “I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do even if it was real”

“You must have some idea Dami. Come on. Tell me what that big brain of yours is thinking” Colin smiled squeezing his shoulder.

“I don’t know. I really don’t!” Damian protested jumping up in agitation.

“Come on Dami. You _must_ have thought about it given that there is a possibility that it could be real. Just tell me what you’re thinking”

“FINE! You want to know what I’m thinking. I’m thinking that the _more_ I think about it the more it seems less like nonsense and more plausible. It seems like it could actually be real” Damian paced the clearing as he talked, hand clenched angrily at his side as he walked.

“Why?” Colin questioned from his position on the floor.

“Because, I’ve checked everywhere Colin. Literally everywhere and I can’t find a single flaw, that we can exploit and use to our own advantage. They let us keep our weapons - as useless as they are - which means that they aren’t scared that we can used them, although I do admit that could be a sign that they are idiots who underestimate us. But that doesn’t make sense either because why would someone go through all this effort to kidnap all of us and put us here in this place - which is so elaborate and over the top, so meticulous in every detail - and then give us something we can potentially use to escape? It just doesn’t fit. Not only that but no one seems to have any memory about how we ended up here, in fact I’m the only one who remembers anything and none of it makes a lick of sense. And the cameras…”

“What about the cameras?”

“That’s just it. There aren’t any Colin! Once again why would you put so much time and effort to trap us here and then not watch? Why leave us here to rot? It’s not even like they’re starving us because food and anything else we need just seems to magically replenish itself whenever we start to run low but no one ever see’s it happen. It just doesn’t make sense … unless…” Damian trails off lost in thought

“Unless?” Colin prompts dutifully

“Unless… He was right and perception warps reality.” Robin pauses his pacing to look at Colin

“I don’t understand”

“It means that the way we experience things, the way we see things defines or changes how they actually are. So … I mean if my dreams are real, if the game-master is real and what he said was correct… then that would mean that _this_ isn’t real. It’s only like this because we believe that it’s real. You know what? This is stupid let’s forget it.” The Wayne heir dropped to his knees as Colin reached out kneeling in front of the red head so that they were face to face once more allowing him run his fingers over Damian’s cheek.

“But I mean … this feels real.”

“It does”

“So how do we prove that it’s not real then?” Colin asked hand still cupping his cheek.

“I don’t….  I don’t think we can. We can’t change the way we experience things. Not truly, not in a way that can definitively tell us whether we are actually here or not. Like I said it was a stupid theory. Let’s forget it.”

“So what do we do now then?”

Damian pulled away from the older boy, running his hands through his hair frustrated.

“I don’t know.”

“Yes you do. You’ve already figured it out haven’t you? You just don’t want to tell me. Why? Why don’t you trust me?”

“I do! I do trust you. It’s stupid and not an actual solution so let’s just forget it okay!” Damian protested using anger to cover up his worry. He was wrong. He had to be. This was real.

“Dami…. Tell me, please”

“Colin, it really is …”

“Don’t lie to me Dami… Just tell me… whatever it is, we can deal with it. You and me. Together. I promise.” Colin begged coming to stand in front of the bat.

“It’s you.” Damian whispered reaching out to draw a hand around Colin pulling the boy in closer and using the other to cup the red heads cheek.

“Me?”

“I don’t think you’re real Colin. I’m so fucking scared that I’m right and you aren’t really here and that makes me a shitty person. What kind of person would wish for their boyfriend to be IN danger rather than out of it?”

“But I mean … this feels real” Colin whispered echoing his previous words.

“It does” Damian whispered back pausing for a moment before he moved his head forward slotting their lips together, allowing their bodies to wrap naturally around the other as they kissed.

It was a while later when they finally came up for air, pulling away slightly from each other that Colin brought the conversation up again.

“What… Dami… What do we do if I’m not real?” Colin asked fearfully.

“You are real. I was wrong. We would … I would know if you weren’t real.” Damian answered trying to assert confidence that he didn’t actually feel.

“But what if…”

“You are. Now stop. It was a stupid idea. Let’s forget it!”

“Why?”

“Why?” Damian echoed incredulously about to rant and rave at his boyfriend only to be stopped in his tracks.

“Why do you think I’m not real?” Colin asked looking directly into his eyes, not allowing Damian to look away “You must have a reason Dami. I know you’re scared. I am too but you’re smart. You always think things through so tell me why?”

“I…” Damian paused taking a deep breath trying to calm his pounding heart “Sometimes you know things that I don’t remember telling you, like about the man in my dreams. You called him the game master but I don’t remember ever saying that name. There’s also the fact that I’m the only one who remembers anything about waking up here in this world and my first memory is me talking to said game master about you. How he asked me what I wanted as a reward for the first challenge and I said your name automatically. When he asked me about you, asked me to focus on you and only you, to tell him everything, I couldn’t stop myself. And then I woke up here, just as dazed and disorientated as everyone else, and suddenly you were here too and I just, I don’t remember anything about this place before that first memory but something kept nagging at me that you shouldn’t be here. Not to mention that everyone loves you Colin. You’re the only person here that seems to get along with everyone, you make people comfortable and whenever you’re around everything is better. You’re too good to be true.”

“I’m not real… How can I not be real? Oh god Dami. I’m so sorry, I thought I was real but …”

“Colin. You are real… you have to be”

“But … but you just said … You’ve got evidence Dami”

“No! That’s not evidence. Every bit of that can be rebutted easily. I could just have forgotten that I told you things, my head’s been weird recently. And we already know you’re here because of me so that feeling I had of not you not supposed to be here is probably just guilt. Not to mention that you’re a likable person Colin of course people feel comfortable around you. And I always think that you’re too good to be true. Besides if you weren’t real why would they want me to question any of this? If you weren’t real you would be protesting that you were real with everything you had.”

“Unless... Dami, what if you made me real. What if by focusing on me when the game master asked you to, is what made me real. What if I’m too good to be true because I’m how you see me to be? Perception warps reality right? What if … What if you know I’m not real and need me to actually say it out loud?” Colin’s eyes were shining with unshed tears as he looked at Damian, silently pleading for an answer that he truly didn’t know. “Dami, if I’m not real… what does that mean? What do we do?”

“I don’t… Colin please don’t make me… I can’t…”

“Dames… Tell me”

“Freedom means Sacrifice. I’d have to …you’d have to…”

“Die?” Colin whispered body trembling at the very thought.

Damian nodded and pulled Colin close once again when the other boy shuddered.

“I’m not going to… I’m not going to do it. I won’t”

“Dami… What if … What if it’s the only way? What if you’re all trapped here because of me? Everything you said made sense Dami and I can’t be the reason you all die here. I can’t”

“We won’t. We can’t be… I can find a way…Just… Just let me find another way…Nothing I said was concrete evidence Colin… You’re real. You have to be.” He pleaded but they both knew it was in vain.

“I’m real” Colin whispered relieved, a small smiled spread across his face as he nodded.

Damian smiled back relieved that they had figured it out. He leaned in to give Colin another kiss. Just wanting to bask in the presence of the boy he had been in love with since he was ten, the boy he had been dating for….

“Hey Colin? When did we get together?” Damian asked, frowning because he couldn’t for the life of him remember how or when it happened. It just felt natural being with Colin like this. So natural in fact that he hadn’t even questioned it.

“A few months ago, Dami. It was right before all of this stuff started. You kissed me after patrol, said something about wanting to do it for ages. How do you not remember?” Colin smiled at the memory.

“Yeah. No... Of course” That made sense, of course it did. Damian had wanted to kiss Colin for a while now so that’s probably exactly how it happened, except ... “We haven’t patrolled together in a while Colin. Not since I… I broke my arm. Oh fuck…”

“Dami?” Colin asked concerned

“You’re not real” he whispered, his chest tightening as he choked out the words and Colin shook his head.

“No. I am. Dami… I am real, we just sorted this out. What’s going on?” Colin said suddenly frantic and wide eyed.

“No. No you’re not. Because this isn’t real.” Damian shook his head as he stepped away from the other boy putting distance between them. “See … I broke my arm”

“Dami that was months ago, you’ve been out of your cast for a while” Colin pleaded with him begging him to see reason but Damian was on a roll now. Suddenly everything was clear.

“You’re right, except that I’m not in any pain whatsoever at the moment. It makes sense if this place wasn’t real that I wouldn’t be in pain”

“They’d know, because perception warps reality remember! If you were in pain you’d feel pain.”

“See I had been lying to father and everyone else about not being in pain because I wanted to get back on patrol. I lied so vehemently about it that most of the time I even fooled myself – that is until I moved my arm in an unfavourable way and then the pain set in once again. But I had forgotten about it while here so I felt no pain. Colin it makes sense. This is proof that this place isn’t real so that means that… you’re not real either”

“Dami… don’t… don’t do this… please… This place may not be real but I am! ....I’m real Dami… I’m real”

“We never got together Colin. I would remember, that’s the thing about my brain. I can never forget anything. The good or the bad but I don’t remember any of that”

“But you don’t remember anything before being here… Just because your last memory of home involves you having pain in your arm doesn’t mean that it’s actually the same time we were all kidnapped. They could have stolen the memories away from you!” Colin yelled at him.

“So then… why do you remember?”

“I… I don’t…. I don’t know … but I know you’re wrong Dami. I’m real!”

“Just moments ago you were all for this, you believed it too. Why are you so against it now?”

“Because I really don’t want to die Dami…. But more importantly… I don’t want you to be wrong. I don’t want my death to be on your hands.”

“I’m right Colin. I know I’m right.”

 

* * *

 

 

Damian stared at the blood that soaked his hands as he waited for his suspicions to be confirmed.

Nothing was happening. Why was nothing happening?

He had to be right. It was the only thing that made sense.

This was the only way.

He was right. Right?

**Author's Note:**

> For context.  
> I imagine that this is set in a world where the child heroes have been taken by aliens (against Lantern law of course) to compete against each other in some sort of competition (not that they know that). So essentially this story would take place right after the first trial. Half the kids are masked and the other half are not and the entire event is being broadcasted live across the galaxy ( and on earth) so everyone see's what's happening and what the kids do ( not that they know this either).  
> Which I feel adds so many layers to this regardless of whether Damian was right or not because everyone would have seen him kill. Because now everyone knows that he's capable of it and his family ( Bruce mainly) will always know that Damian will never be free of killing. Also Psychologically either way Damian is fucked up whether it was real or not doesn't matter because he either killed Colin in real life and now the other boy is dead or he didn't kill Colin but Damian would never get rid of the feeling of killing Colin and Colin is sure as hell never going to forget that his boyfriend is capable of killing him. or I mean there is another... third possibility that it was all a simulation and the only way to leave was to kill Colin but by killing simulation Colin Damian actually kills real Colin which I personally feel would be worse than the other two.  
> Also I don't think it's ever mentioned in the story but I imagine Damian and Colin are like 14/15ish here. 
> 
> Anyway. Hope you enjoyed the story...  
> Let me know what you think :)


End file.
